三鷹、聞いたか、吉祥寺、二子玉川 and Shibata

Last month we learned the phrases for saying no.

A phrase I've experienced saying no is, " Your English is poor ."

This is a phrase I was told when I went to England for the first time about 30 years ago.

At that time, I was selling minerals used in ceramic pigments.

Speaking of England, Wedgewood is famous, but there are several other manufacturers.

We sold to the manufacturer through a broker.

At some point, payments were delayed, and by the time I took over, we were about 40 million yen in arrears.

So I went on a business trip to London and negotiated payment recovery.

The broker was a private company, and in addition to being a broker, he also worked as a speechwriter for the president's speeches in London.

He is a proud graduate of Oxford University.

He was proud of his excellent English.

In response to my request for payment, he did not respond clearly whether he would pay or not.

The last thing he said was, "Your English is poor."

I was taken aback by this.

I remember retorting that no matter if my English was poor or rich, you still had to pay.

I couldn't figure out his true intentions, whether he should pay or not.

I thought that English had a clear yes or no, but that's not always the case.

I consulted with an American English-speaking London office manager who graduated from graduate school at the University of Michigan, and a local employee who graduated from a Japanese language course at a British university.

It appears that he made a mistake in another company's brokerage business and misappropriated our sales proceeds.

Even if he wanted to pay, he couldn't because he didn't have the money.

But he was too proud to say that.

He should also sell his house to pay the bill, but a lawsuit would be needed to enforce that.

The executive officer in charge at the time concluded that it was unacceptable for a large company to sue an individual in the UK .

It's a comprehensive judgment.

Also, I was told by my predecessor that if I didn't use him, I wouldn't be able to sell the mineral products.

That's why I can't cut him off.

I thought this was a bad idea, so I visited the manufacturer in Stoke-on-Trent the next day.

The manufacturer's representative was surprised to learn of the broker's embezzlement.

As a result of negotiations, we decided to remove the broker and export through a reliable trading company in Japan.

Although it was not 100% successful, I am glad that we were able to normalize the transaction.

The manufacturer's representative treated us to lunch and plenty of Scotch whiskey at the ceramics association's clubhouse.

Having completed the first challenge, the subsequent visit to the French users was a somewhat easier journey.

I took the opportunity to stop by Rome and do some sightseeing on the way back.

The World Cup was being held, and it was impressive to see how engrossed the hotel employees were.

Italians prefer soccer to work.

Taking a vacation after a business trip is called a bleisure.

However, my trip to Rome was a short-lived " Roman holiday " over the weekend.

I went to work properly on Monday and reported on my business trip.

以下の部分は、スピーチが少し長くなったので発表は控えました。

Was there romance in Rome?

When I was having a drink at a cafe after watching Phono Romano, a suspicious man asked me if I wanted to come over to his house, but of course I said no.

I intended to take a taxi to the airport, but it was a white taxi , but he

gave me a receipt.

This was the car that the hotel doorman showed me.

It's a very Italian thing, but it's still a long way off before I get robbed.